GEORGE NEWS - Two new schools opened in Thembalethu on the first day of the school year. Both Jonga Street Secondary School and Tabatha Street Primary School are brand new, catering to a community where existing schools are full to capacity.
Jonga Street Secondary started this year with only grade 8 and 9 learners, and Tabatha Street Primary with Grades 1, 2 and 3.
Norman Cona, who still officially holds the position of principal at Thembalethu High School, and Yvonne Dingiswayo, a deputy principal at her previous school, were asked to act as interim caretakers / principals, to set everything in place, open the schools, and make sure the year kicks off with no hiccups.
Jonga Street Secondary
Cona says it is an absolute honour that he was chosen for this project. He says in the past he has helped launch a few other schools in the area.
"I think it is because of my knowledge and previous experience that they asked me to help with this project. But I'm still honoured."
He says the school might get a new name once a school governing body is in place, but with the new blood of enthusiastic teachers, they are ready for this new venture.
The school was almost not ready to open in time, but R74 000 later Thembalethu has a beautifully designed new school with a big hall, a junior and senior section, and classrooms set up for the subjects and the volume of learners.
Yvonne Dingiswayo at Tabatha Street Primary School.
Tabatha Street Primary
Tabatha Street Primary currently comprises a bunch of mobile classrooms, previously known to the community as France. According to Dingiswayo the school is new and has mostly new staff. She says the school currently accommodates learners from the other primary schools in the area that could not accommodate them, but it is also accessible to children from the immediate community around the school.
All the groundwork has been done and the governing body is in place.
They are just waiting for the kitchen to be set up properly to start with the feeding scheme. The department of education is excited about the opening of the new schools in George. Bronagh Hammond, the head of communication at the WCED, says to accommodate the growth in numbers, the department completed five new schools in preparation for the new school year, two of which are the above-mentioned schools here in George.
'We bring you the latest George, Garden Route news'
